


And I Will Raise Her to the Light

by flibbertygigget



Series: The Other 51 [33]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Fatherhood, Gen, Javert is a good person, Single Dad Javert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 09:58:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7217917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valjean is arrested, but before he goes back to prison he makes Javert promise to take care of Cosette. Javert finds out that there is something more important than the law.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I Will Raise Her to the Light

It takes Javert mere hours to reach the village.

Monsieur Madeleine (no, Jean Valjean, his name is Jean Valjean) had accepted his arrest quietly, too quietly. All he had requested was that Javert go and look for a girl named Cosette, who was in the care of a certain Thénardier. As Javert walks through the quiet streets of the village, he mulls over all that Valjean had told him.

"I made her mother a promise," the convict had said. "I told her I would take care of Cosette after she died. I cannot keep my promise, so I beg you to help me."

There is no reason for Javert to go out of his way, to waste time that could be better spent bringing criminals to justice, on the daughter of an immoral woman at the behest of a thief and a liar. And yet... there is no harm in simply visiting the village in which she lives and ensuring that she is being well taken care of. That is what Javert tells himself, that there is simply no harm, but he knows that there is something more. Though the laws that he lives by do not require it, he feels drawn to the idea of seeing that this child is happy.

There is almost no one out, and he doesn't know the area well enough to even try to find the house that Cosette lives in. Javert wants to give up, to find an inn and fall asleep next to a roaring fire, but still he keeps at it. Suddenly, he sees someone on the street. It is a child in dirty rags, dragging a large bucket of water, but she will do.

"Gamine!" Javert says, and the girl startles, slopping water down the front of her dress. "Do you know where I can find the house of Monsieur Thénardier?" She nods, eyes wide and frightened, but she doesn't answer. Javert grinds his teeth in frustration and forces his face into something resembling a smile. "Could you perhaps lead me there?"

"I am his servant, Monsieur," the girl says. "Follow me." Javert does so, a frown creasing his face almost against his will. It isn't exactly illegal, of course, but it is obvious that the Thénardier family treats their young servant poorly. He can only hope that the child they practically adopted has fared better.

They arrive at the Thénardiers' door, ironically that of the inn that Javert would have stayed at in any case. Javert fishes into his pocket for some francs to pay for a room and food and then, on a whim, hold out a few coins for the servant. She looks at him fearfully and grabs them, hiding them in her small hands as though afraid that he would take them back at any moment.

Javert justifies himself later by saying that it was obvious that she wasn't being paid for her services and that slavery is illegal in France.

The inn is loud and dirty, nothing like the quiet establishments that Javert prefers to frequent, but in such a small village he'll take what he can get. He pays a busty, flirting woman for a pint of something vile, and then he settles back to wait. It is like any other stake out, a simple matter of finding a position and staying there until you have the information or man that you are searching for. Normally he would be completely concentrated on finding Thénardier, but he finds his gaze slipping to try to find the servant that had shown him there. Finally he sees her under a table, clutching a doll almost the size of herself to her chest, suspicious eyes darting around as though expecting a blow at any moment. 

"Cosette!" the woman shrieks, and Javert tenses, head whipping around to try to see where the child is. The mistress of the house bursts from the back room in a terrible rage and pushes through the crowd towards the table that the servant is hiding under, and Javert feels an unexpected stab of rage go through him. The child looks terrified as the woman drags her out. "You little thief, how dare you steal my Eponine's doll? You'll pay for this, you little whore's child!"

"No, ma'am, I didn't steal it, ma'am," Cosette says, tears staining her cheeks. "I only- I only wanted-" The smack that Mme. Thénardier gives her can be heard across the room.  _Assault_ , Javert thinks, but, no, Cosette is their ward, they have the right to discipline her as they see fit. Javert has never hated the law so much.

"You think you can pull the wool over my eyes, hmm? When I'm through with you, you won't be able to sit for a week." Cosette is crying, cowering, and Javert knows that the woman isn't bluffing. He stands. He has seen enough.

"Madame, I will be retiring to my room. Could you send someone up to make a fire? It is deathly cold outside." Both Mme. Thénardier and Cosette freeze, the woman trying to maintain some sense of decorum even when about to beat a child, and the child with some kind of tentative, wavering hope in her eyes. Javert doesn't meet either of their eyes.

"Of- of course, my dear sir," Mme. Thénardier says, voice high and artificial. She releases Cosette's arm and pushes her forward. "You heard the man, you brat. Go get his room ready!" Javert doesn't respond, simply guides the girl upstairs with a hand on her shoulder. He has to physically will himself to be gentle, to not alarm her. He isn't used to touching someone beyond a courtesy handshake without the intent to arrest them. As soon as they get to Javert's room Cosette turns to him.

"Monsieur..." she says, hesitating. Javert simply gives her a nod. Cosette looks at him as though he is an angel sent from God. "Why- why did you help me?" Javert thinks of the laws in place, how they did not protect this child when he could clearly see that she was being mistreated. He thinks of Jean Valjean, locked up because he was willing to follow the law and inform the police of their error.

"Because it was right," Javert says. The words are simple, but to him they feel like a revelation. It was not lawful, not justice, but it was right.

When Javert goes to bed that night, he makes a vow to himself. Whatever it takes, he will keep his promise to the convict. He will raise Cosette.


End file.
